I'm not in the Peace Corps.

I’m not a Peace Corps Volunteer.

You read that correctly. As of April 8, 2015 I have officially successfully completed my two-year Peace Corps service and I am now a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). . .ok, I haven’t quite ‘R-ed’ yet, but you get the idea.

                  

Close-of-Service, or ‘COS’ week went very smoothly, despite the fact that Summit of the Americas was happening in Panama City during the week that I was running around doing my last medical and dental checks and completing paperwork to be able to submit everything to finish my Peace Corps service on time.

Afterward, I had the most AMAZING vacation in Colombia with a few of my favorite people. I got to visit Cartagena, Medellin, Rio Claro, Bogota and Villa de Leyva and it was the most glorious thing ever.

I’m not trying to trivialize unemployment, but in my peculiarly unemployed-yet-worryfree state right now. . .I’m in good spot. I had exactly zero concerns or worries during my twelve days of galavanting around Panama’s South American neighbor. I won’t take the time to recount my whole journey, but just know that I got to dance, karaoke, and spend time with friends I hadn’t seen in two years. It was wonderful.

I’m currently back in Meteti for my last four days. It feels good to be in my Darien home and—would you believe it?—my brain does not believe that I’m peacing out of here on Tuesday. It felt so good to come back to my house and sleep in my bed and see my cat and shop in my store and hear the tipico music playing across the street—I guess being uprooted may prove a little difficult.

I’m ready for it, though. I’ve given it a lot of thought and prepared as best as I can, and on Tuesday I’ll be taking the leap. (I just keep reminding myself that in exactly one week I’ll be laughing until I cry when I go to see Kevin Hart’s show in Charlotte.)

Okay family and friends, I’ll be seeing y’all in a little while!


What I've read recently:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean Dominique Bauby
Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness - Rebecca Walker
I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts - Larry Wilmore
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood